A zombie film with brains, not just eaten ones

Rating: 8/10 (13 June 2009)

Just because it happens to be a very good movie, calling "28 Days Later" more than a zombie flick is inaccurate: Gore and other general zombie fare that's turned these movies into a genre are still the film's main vehicle for delivering entertainment. What it does differently, however, is make you think a bit more, make you feel a bit more. The zombies might be mindless, but director Danny Boyle's film is far from it.
The premise is one we've heard before: an uncontrollable outbreak of a disease turns people into raging zombies who lust for blood and violence. The location is London and the protagonist who doesn't get infected is Jim (Cillian Murphy), who wakes up from an accident 28 days after the breakout to find London abandoned. In his quest for survival, he meets other uninfected people and together they try to find others to begin life anew.
The first thing worth mentioning is that if "28 Days Later" were just another zombie movie, it'd still be one of the best because of Boyle. The "Trainspotting" director's style is unique, striking and suspenseful. He gets multiple angles for many of the major scenes and edits them to fire off rapidly or slowly to give a sense that the characters are being watched. He places the camera in all kinds of intriguing places to get provocative shots and it gives the story its own special life.
Alex Garland's screenplay is also special. In his second time working with Boyle, Garland creates a concept that doesn't merely serve for great suspense, but acts as a social metaphor for war and violence as indicated by the opening seconds of the film. The mere concept of "rage" spreading quickly like a disease is quite smart. It's not allegorical or driven all the way through the film, but it's there and it makes the film more respectable and interesting. Jim is also a great protagonist, being both innocent toward the beginning but willing to take risks and he evolves into quite the hero in the film's final act. Murphy is a definite talent: a subtle one, but very good.
Then again, "28 Days Later" is also just a good suspenseful zombie movie with a very fine director who understands how to apply his style to a different genre effectively. Everything else is sort of like free dessert.